The City Of Evil
by The Baron - UWD
Summary: Raccoon is not the first nor the last to bear the taint of Umbrella. A story of survival of the strongest, as two different allegiances battle against one another and their surroundings.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer:** As a formality, I don't own any of the Resident Evil characters (if I even mention them) all material is copyrighted to Capcom, etc, etc. The only characters I take credit for are my own which as of now is Owen Kennedy. Any other character mentioned will be noted on this disclaimer to whomever it belongs to. I'm a little rusty in the writing department, well burnt out is more like it, so I openly welcome any criticisms. There, enough of that, time to get on with yonder story.

**THE SITUATION**

"What's the situational report?" General David Hawthorne, Army Chief of Staff, directed to aid as he entered into the meeting room of the Joint Chiefs of Staff inside The Pentagon.

The frustrated aid who had been on various phone lines through the course of the day responded to his boss, "Things are taking a turn for the worse. There are riots ensuing throughout the city, almost a state of anarchy. The local police force has placed the city under marshal law but it doesn't seem to be quelling the rioters."

The general pondered on his options as he let the words of his right hand man sink in. David Hawthorne was a traditional career soldier like his father before him. He had seen the terror in the jungles of Vietnam and was no stranger to chaotic situations. The events that surrounded this particular incident, however, perplexed him. What could lead an entire city to fall into a state of anarchy? There were so many gaps left in the picture and it would not be easy explaining them to the president who just so happened to enter the briefing room at that time. General Hawthorne immediately rose to a position of attention and rendered a 3-5 salute to the commander-and-chief of the United States military. After being appropriately acknowledged by the president he returned to his seated position and waited to give his assessment of the situation.

"Well, what have we got?" chimed the president as he snatched up a folder containing the basic information of the incident.

"It's hard to say sir, but it looks like massive civil unrest," General Hawthorne thumbed through a few reports and laid them on the desk in front of his commander. "These are messages sent directly to the D.O.D. by the Raccoon City Police Department requesting help in subduing the rioters."

The president reviewed each report carefully, not fully understanding the seriousness of the situation. He glanced up at Hawthorne with a worried look cast upon his face.

"What would you suggest?"

"Well sir, I think it would be in our benefit to send some of our boys in?"

"Who do we have that's close?"

"The 10th Mountain Division could respond the quickest but I would also like to dispatch the 3rd Ranger Battalion from the 75th Regiment. That should be sufficient manpower to bring this bullshit to a close."

"Ok, you have my authorization. Notify the commanders of this decision immediately. I want this situation to end in no less than ten hours."

"Understood, sir. Thank you."

Having wrapped up their brief meeting, the president returned to his routine business and left Hawthorne to his job. He would now make the necessary calls to Fort Carson, Colorado, and Fort Benning, Georgia informing the base commanders of the situation and what was needed. Too bad he wasn't aware of the terror that would soon overwhelm the elite soldiers.

**UMBRELLA TAKES ACTION**

Far from Washington, D.C. in a towering corporate complex that overlooked the Paris skyline, executives from all four branches of the Umbrella Corporation converged within the global headquarters to assess just how critical the outbreak was.

"This is absolutely not containable!"

"It can be contained, dammit. With the proper amount of force..."

"Force? How the hell can you think we can handle this with force? We just need to wipe this city off the map."

"Oh yes, let's just destroy a section of Colorado, I'm sure we would draw no attention from that."

The chief executive for Umbrella's White Division, charged with the task of biological weapons creation sat back in his plush leather chair, a cigarette in his hand, and his image shrouded in darkness. He brought the cancer stick to his lips, the cherry lit up as he inhaled and blew the smoke out. This was the same bickering "Mr. White" had listened to all morning and it was growing old. They could argue all they wanted but in the end it would be he who made the decision on what action to take regarding the incident in America. Finally, he spoke his part.

"Gentlemen," he began as the other members immediately grew silent and turned their attention towards him, "I've received word the United States government still believes this to be a mere case of disorder. They have decided to handle this from a military approach and will be sending soldiers to the city. I have decided that we will be sending in a U.S.S. unit in order to extract high-level personnel and secure any incriminating information that may have fallen into the wrong hands. We will cooperate with the United States and convince them it is nothing more than a nuclear meltdown and that it needs to be contained. This will keep them out of our business until we have completed our objectives. If any of you have complaints... well you can just forget them because I've made my decision. Notify the commander of Delta and tell him to have his team ready to infill in one hour. This meeting is adjourned."

Having been dismissed, the board of directors took a break from their session to ease their minds of the problems that faced them in the future. The idea of having the most capable and elite U.S.S. unit should have quelled their doubts but it did little to put their minds at ease. The question was, would their fears be justified?


	2. Deadly Vixen

**Disclaimer:** Chapter two has been written by my lovely friend "DesiredRae". She and I have worked together in the past, never on something as large as this though and she will be cowriting this story with me to help unfold the tale from more than just the perspective of the antagonist. Rae, good job with this one babe, keep up the fantastic work.

It had been fate, arriving in Raccoon City the day before all hell broke loose - it was too late to leave and possibly even too late to slip away. Johnny had bailed in California and had gone running from her current employer; his name wasn't Johnny but seemed to fit for memory sake. She had been getting so close to catching him, alive that is; as her employer had specified - unfortunately fate had a funny way of turning on you. Now as she stood over his dead body with two fingers trying to take a pulse that was no longer there, she couldn't be sure what the cause of death was but it looked like some rabid animal had mauled the man. He had suffered, managed to run away and back to the safety of the dirty motel; he died about an hour ago - his face contorted into a painful grimace.

"Dead."

"DEAD."

She shook her head in annoyance, she spat on the slowly decomposing body and turned her back on the man. "Just fucking great." Soft rose lips frowned at the sound of a sluggish moan, she had checked the room thoroughly - so other than the dead man behind her there couldn't be anything else in the motel room. Raelynn glanced behind her shoulder in shock as she watched the body lift itself as if it weighed several hundred pounds. She turned around fully to watch the man in amazement, in all of her days she had not seen something this miraculous, here stood a dead man. Though his movements almost seemed instinctual and the smell of rot was around them both, the man that had once been 'Johnny' stumbled towards Raelynn with determination, his eyes locked onto her - death seemed to swim within the endless gaze.

"Well, well. Johnny wants to play." she raised a threatening raven brow. She took out two long, severe daggers from two belt sheaths, just as the body of 'Johnny' lunged at her - a hungry groan escaping from his lips. The stumbling body that threw itself at her was met with two daggers, one through a lung and the other in the heart. Holding the body in place with the daggers she pushed the body away from her, her daggers covered with congealed blood; one of the many signs of death. "Well now. This is new…" she trailed off. The creature that had fallen to the ground when she had pushed it away now it had begun crawling towards her, scraping it's nails on the floor. Raelynn smashed a leather boot onto 'Johnny's' head and grinded his face into the floor, she quickly bent down and ripped the knife along the decaying flesh of his neck severing his head from his body.

"I suggest staying dead this time." she muttered to the body. She walked over to the bed and wiped her blades on the over turned sheets, cleaning the gelled blood from the silver gleam. Raelynn slipped a hand into her jeans and pulled out a small wooden cross and tossed it onto the body, "For your sake, I hope you were a praying man." she pulled one side of the curtains to look outside. It looked the same outside as it had when she came, and now as she left she felt different. She found something… it couldn't have been her imagination. It was said that sometimes in extreme cases, bounty hunters loose their touch on reality - usually not in this form.

Raelynn looked at the body once more before taking her cell phone out of her jacket pocket, it was time to call her employer and tell him the news. She dialed the number that she knew from heart and listened to it ring once, twice, three times before she heard the other end pick up. Her employer's voice crackled at the other end "Hello?", the informal greeting meant he knew who it was.

"He is dead." That was all she needed to really say, it didn't matter to her what would happen after that,

"Dead? I thought I made it clear that he was to arrive alive?" his voice was calm but she knew the man wasn't calm at all. She could picture him clicked the pen he always held in his hand on the desk, the pace would become faster and harder to the point he might actually break the pen.

"He was dead when I found him."

"How did he die?" she could hear the pen in the background now.

"He was mauled by some sort of animal, he managed to get away but he died about an hour ago."

"Bring his body back, I want to see for myself."

"Mr. Halindor, I don't think that will be possible. I have been listening to the radio all afternoon and it seems Raccoon city is under quarantine. They won't allow me to leave. I can send you a picture…" she trailed off as she pointed the camera at the decapitated body and snapped the picture. She sent it to her employer's cell phone.

"Lynn… you are telling me that Patrick St.Clair was mauled by an animal and survived? Pray tell me why his head is no longer part of his body?" his voice raising gradually.

"Well… that is an interesting story," she placed a hand on her hip and tapped her foot, annoyed that he was interrogating her.

"Say that again? You… brea… up…" the phone spat static in her ear before hanging up on her.

Raelynn dialed her employer's number again but no one picked up, after giving up on the never ending ring - she closed the sliding cell phone and shoved it into her pocket. "Great," she muttered.

Raelynn grasped the metal door handle with a leather encased hand, the black sheen of the leather was like a second skin. She inched the door open and looked around, the street was deserted the only sign of life was the sound of a TV in the background and a crow settling on a lamp post near by. She swung the door open and stepped out into the sunlight that relentlessly beat down everything it could touch, eventually creating a thin sheen of glistening sweat. Her once creamy complexion of an Irish darling had turned into a golden tan of a Greek goddess. She had spent most of her days in the past seven years as a bounty hunter, severe conditions, scars and screams. One day in the future far a head of her it would all come rushing back like a tidal wave that would hit her to the ground and finally take her where she had taken so many others. Death was a gift and even in some cases she was an angel.

Tight black jeans were tucked into knee high leather boots, the small heels barely made her an inch taller then her 5'8" mark. Raelynn grabbed her helmet off of her Kawasaki Ninja, her motorcycle, her one and only investment and her 'baby'. Rae slipped on the black helmet that had a angel painted across it like a signature she would write across a check or legal paper. Only her signature couldn't be found, not on any legal paper or even on a note book back from high school - she had someone take care of that. Her parents had been very influential people back in Europe, she had been born and raised there their fateful day had become her awakening. Only fourteen and she had found her purpose in life, that is when she realized that no matter who it was - whether you loved them or hated them; people died. A long leg swung over the motorcycle, she sat down and turned the key to start the engine. Within seconds she was gone, like the wind - raven silk whipping behind her, escaping from the helmet and tasting the sting of the wind.


	3. How He Came To Be

**Disclaimer: **Sorry to any readers, but this isn't exactly your usual chapter. I wanted to give you all a somewhat in-depth look into the main antagonist of the story before I jumped into any action. Hope y'all don't mind, look for the third installment within the next day or so. Enjoy.

**THE JOURNEY**

High above everything seemed peaceful. A black, unmarked MH-57 Black Hawk attack helicopter outfitted with eight of Umbrella's top soldiers was on its path from Denver headed towards Raccoon City. They had just entered the Arklay Mountain Range where a mist lay serenely over the forest and mountains capped off by the setting orb of light that gave a warm glow of life to the area. As the setting sun ran its course towards the western horizon, disappearing over the mountains, Raccoon City became visible as a mass of lighting in what areas of the forsaken city were still left powered.

While the other seven soldiers were engaged in pointless chatter, the commander of the unit sat within the sanctity of his own silence. They may have had not a worry left in the world but to the man who had been briefed on the situation, his mind couldn't be far closer to the matter at hand. Owen Kennedy had started life as your typical upper class socialite would. He was born in beautiful metropolis of Colorado Springs while his parents had been vacationing there in February of nineteen seventy-six. He never considered himself a native of Colorado, however, as he was raised in his home state of Texas. A passion and pride in The Lone Star State had evolved in Owen as he progressed through life. He was actively involved in sports at a very early age, especially wrestling, which was an evolving sport throughout the state and in his hometown of Amarillo. Up until his graduation from high school he had been a top wrestler and football player in the state, earning numerous recognitions and was even offered a scholarship to Oklahoma State University; a college recognized for its championship wrestling program. He had long considered heading through the four-year college and obtaining a bachelors degree in Political Science with aims of maybe someday becoming president but after one talk with a United States Army recruiter, those dreams soon changed. A burning passion consumed him and he enlisted without the approval of his aristocrat parents. It wasn't their future after all, was it?

Within the army, Owen found he had a knack for shooting, close quarters battle, and hand to hand combat. These traits helped him immensely when he tried out for the Ranger Indoctrination Program and passed the course to enter Ranger School. Owen finished at the top of his class and was awarded the famed Ranger tab, indicating to the world that he was no ordinary infantry soldier... he was elite. After spending one year with the 75th Ranger Regiment, 3rd Battalion, he decided it was time for a change in his career. Having completed the non-commissioned officer school and obtaining the rank of E5 sergeant, Owen transferred over to Fort Bragg, North Carolina and was accepted to begin training for the army's Special Forces, simply known to the public as Green Beret. His advancement within the USSF came quickly and was given the honor of leading a squad. This is where he met his executive officer and, not known at the time, his best friend, Nathan Frost. Frost was a man of similar background; they were both deemed the "rednecks" of their unit having been raised in the great Dixieland and shared similar interests. A bond was formed instantly between the two and they became inseparable, even to the point where they had specifically requested two man operations. These classified missions led them to such places as Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Libya, and even the jungles of Columbia and Venezuela. This is where the Umbrella Corporation began noticing the two top soldiers of the Green Beret.

No one knows how exactly Umbrella found their information on the brothers in arms, they were known for possessing knowledge even the United States government was unable to procure. A key commander for the private military of the global conglomerate began personally visiting the two on their downtime and within a matter of months was able to convince them that becoming mercenaries provided for much more excitement and better pay than the army could bestow. In the summer of 1997, a cover up for the disappearance of Owen Kennedy and Nathan Frost was executed by Umbrella. They had been sent on a mission alongside the Combat Applications Group - Delta in northern Qatar to extricate American Hostages held by an unknown terrorist group. Those "terrorists" were cheap hired guns by Umbrella to use in their elaborate plan to recruit the two. The official report released to The Pentagon was that the Delta unit along with the two Green Berets had been ambushed and captured within the American Embassy compound. No questions were asked, the case was dismissed, and the six missing soldiers were listed as Killed in Action.

Sergeants Kennedy and Frost were taken to Rockford Island to begin their training for the Umbrella Security Services. Within a matter of two months they had proven their combat efficiency and leadership capabilities and were each assigned a unit. This just wouldn't work for the two who had all but become brothers over the course of their time together. After much negotiating it was decided that Kennedy would be promoted to the rank of command sergeant major and placed as the commanding officer of Umbrella's equivalent to "Delta Force", U.S.S. Unit D. Frost was given the rank of first sergeant and acting executive officer under Kennedy. Now that they had their ranks and assignments, they began their leadership of Unit D, which was stationed at an undisclosed location in southern New York.

Unit D undertook many missions in the interest of their employer, all of which were successful; and with one hundred percent survival rate under the watchful eye of the ex-army elite. Both Unit D & its commanding officers garnered a reputation of perfection among the corporate rank and quickly became feared by the enemies of Umbrella. Three months prior to the outbreak, they were even present at the Spencer Mansion for a brief time to contain that incident but when it was known that it would be impossible to halt the contamination, they were called back and left the formidable task to Agent Wesker and his S.T.A.R.S. teams. Now here they were, just a few short miles from the edge of a nightmare that would test the limits of the veteran squad. Owen, known to his teammates and adversaries alike as "The Baron" (short for The Baron of Death) couldn't help but smile nefariously at the thought of the task that stood before them. He was deep into thought when Frost nudged him on the shoulder and snapped him away from his trance.

"ETA is two minutes." spoke Frost so that only The Baron was capable of hearing.

"Refresh their memories with the final preparations, I don't think they quite know the shit storm we're about to head into."

As Frost called for the attention of the men, Owen looked at the NATO SF-10 respirator he held in his gloved hands. The shining sable mixture of rubber, plastic, steel, and glass was about to become an omen of fear and death for those unfortunate enough to transfix their gaze upon it.


	4. The Calm Before The Storm

On the edge of a high priced Victorian chair, Raelynn leaned her elbows on her knees and rested her chin in the palm of her hands, a Beretta 93R hanging from her forefinger. The last she had checked with the hotel, the guests were hiding in their hotel rooms - Umbrella had stopped all flow out of the city and things were getting worse by the minute. The local radio had gone out with horrifying screams; now only the sound of static came from the small speakers.

It had only been whispers but now after the fifth walking corpse, she knew it had to be true. The event had been kept hush hush, but she had worked for several Umbrella employees and worked against several more. She found that the best way to squeeze information out of someone was to use their family - family would be a liability in her case and since she didn't have any, she was happy enough to continue on pretending her parents hadn't meant a thing to her. Umbrella was the largest company in the world and she had done their dirty work too many times to count and for a good price. They had their fingers in way too many pies, speaking figuratively of course - many would assume it would catch up to them but from what she heard about a Mansion not far from Raccoon city that wouldn't happen anytime soon. Very few individuals who crossed Umbrella within the company were handled by outsiders like herself but she had come highly recommended. Briefed with the only commands to kill silently, she did more then that. She got information and a few pretty pieces of paper the scientist had in his possession. Unfortunate for anyone whom ever wanted those papers, they were locked and sealed in a place even she didn't know about. The only clue was the word 'fin' tattooed on the back of her neck.

It all made sense now, what she had thought to be lunacy from the ex-Umbrella scientist was a truth that even she still had troubles believing after seeing it herself. She had passed a large riot on her way to the small but rather fancy hotel. Several police officers had been involved along with a mix of government military, civilians and the undead. She still wasn't sure what to call them yet, 'zombies' was too close to immature while 'creature' was too general, undead was close enough to the truth without mixing it up with any other occult stories.

As a little girl she could remember all her fears; each of course slowly being conquered. Spiders had been one until she had been bitten, the bite had swollen up only a little but the fear of dying from a bite left her when she realized that wouldn't be the case. She had also realize that all creatures and even humans reacted out of instinct, if a creature was scared it would retaliate in a harmful manner - so she learned to be quicker. What Raelynn never failed to notice was human's nature to 'want' to scare the wits out of someone for pleasure, and right back someone took pleasure in being scared. It was one reason why zombies, ghosts and dragons were created - to scare someone into believing that one day a zombie will dig it's way out of the ground and eat you alive. Well at one point in her life over a decade ago she believed it. Zombies was a fear of hers, one that her two brothers had played on every chance they got. She hated to admit it but it took her a lot longer to get over that fear, she would force herself to watch the movies and play the stupid first shooter games with the zombies. Eventually the fear faded and then a shocking truth only a decade later came and lunged at her like a ravenous animal. Her brothers as far as she was concerned, were dead. They had been the hand that pushed the button that killed her parents; right in front of innocent green eyes.

Raelynn pushed herself up from the chair with an angry sigh, she flipped the gun to hold it properly - it seemed a perfect fit as if her hand was always meant to have a gun in it. She sauntered over to the glass doors the led to a circular balcony on the third floor of the hotel, she pushed aside the heavy floral curtains and looked outside. The sun was setting, a burning red orb of fire - the sun itself seemed to bleed into the sky imitating the blood spewed all over Raccoon city. Raelynn peered over the balcony, the street was deserted, cars strewn all over the road and bodies that had fallen to their final death lay like litter across the streets. Raelynn sat down on the balcony chair and leaned her head back on the gilded railing, violent green eyes wandered off into her own thoughts - thoughts of when she would get out of Raccoon city.

A feminine scream jolted Raelynn out of her thoughts, jumping to her feet only a second later two green orbs locked onto the woman who had made the noise. The woman in a jogging suit was running for her life from two of Umbrella's creations, they might be dead but they were faster then what seemed biologically possible for something that was supposed to be dead - not to mention moving at all while dead. Raelynn shook her head at her thoughts raised the Beretta, pointing it at the closest undead creature she focused on a spot between the creature's head and neck and fired. The resounding noise of the bullet echoed in the empty street and hit it's mark, the back of the undead's head exploded; spraying bits of skull and brain. The body crumpled to the ground and Raelynn repeated with the second undead with similar results. Without another look Raelynn sat down in the lawn chair again, the woman looked behind her once to wave at the figure on the balcony only to have it disappear. "Stupid woman, you are going to die anyways." she muttered. Then she would end up killing her too, as far as she was concerned there would be very few to survive this disaster.

Sitting with her head leaning back on the railing again the last fading rays of sunlight melted into the skyline and the moon took over the sky. What lights were left in the city sparkled softly like a charming welcome and hiding the obvious flaw of a rampant plague. Sitting and doing anything but what she should be doing, trying to get out - perhaps it was the mental exhaustion of finding a way out or trying to explain to herself why she was killing things that were already dead. Things that didn't die until you severed their spinal cord from their brain. She was restless, she needed to move on - she knew it wouldn't be too long before she heard the sounds of the undead creatures. In one swift movement Raelynn was standing, she strode into the hotel room she had booked for the week and picked up her leather jacket. She slipped on the cool leather over a burgundy tank top that accented a well endowed cleavage.

Raelynn usually only wore a shoulder holster that held two guns and a belt holster that held one gun and four small knives and two long knife sheathes in her boots but she was always prepared for a war. Rae strapped on two thigh holsters for two HK USPs (2004 prototype), her shoulder holsters held her Berettas, and her waist holster held a Desert Eagle. The last two things Raelynn grabbed was a HK 416 and her motorcycle helmet before she looked through the peep hole in the door. The hallway as far as she could see was deserted, papers and other various items strewn cross the floor. Raelynn pulled out one of her berettas and held it to her side as she unlocked the door and the dead bolt, opening the door was a hazard - the creak echoed loudly in the hallway. Raelynn swore under her breath as she looked down the hallway where the door wasn't blocking most of her sight. Before she could step away from the door a weight slammed itself into the door with a gurgling moan, Raelynn stepped back into the room and closed the door until there were only a few inches of space before the door closed. She looked out the peep hole again to see two rotting bodies scraping at the door, without a second thought Raelynn gripped her gun and slammed the door open, catching both undead in the face - smashing their noses with a sickening crunch. Raelynn ran out from the room to the opposite side of the wall way and shot both of the undead in the face one after the other. One bullet hitting the one undead right in the throat and severing the spine from it's brain cleanly while the other bullet hit the other undead's side of it's face and taking a chunk of flesh off with it. The other undead still walked with a willful growl, taking a lunge at her. Raelynn dropped her helmet and in the split second the zombie jumped at her she pulled out a long dagger from her boot, her gun dropping to the floor as well. Raelynn side stepped the undead's lunge and grabbed the creature by it's hair and slit the back of it's neck, finishing death' job.

Raelynn tossed the dead body aside and sheathed the knife after cleaning it and picked up her belongings, it was time to get out of this hell hole once and for all. She swung open the door to the stairs that would finally lead her to her freedom, or at least to the freedom of the outside world where she would discover more then the undead.


	5. Combat Effective

The glowing orb of light cast its final gleams of hope as the MH-60 Black Hawk attack helicopter traversed across the fallen city. The soldiers on board all focused their vision down below to the scene of mayhem and destruction. Massive hordes of the undead were engaging civilian, military, and police alike and not faring very well. The pilot decelerated the bird and began hovering above the targeted landing zone; he slowly lowered the helo towards the ground but stalled out twenty feet above.

"LZ's too hot, sir." Signaled the pilot to Commander Baron. They were prepared for this situation, and by a simple hand signal, the rappelling ropes were lowered to the ground.

The first to make the descent was "Sharpe", one of the team's heavy support specialists. He gripped a hold of the rope and checked for its durability before sliding down and landing, bent kneed, on the ground, right in the middle of a battle between police forces and the undead. Without hesitation he grabbed his FN M240G machine gun, switched the selector from safe to automatic and started laying down a barrage of fire at the infected. Next came the two assault specialists, "Shooter" & "Fox", equipped with a CAR-15 Colt Commando and FN SCAR-H, respectively. They each took their positions and began picking their shots as "Dagger", "D-Mo", and "Doc" all rappelled down below. Finally it was time for Baron and Frost to make their decent. The two friends looked to each other and nodded, as that was the only means of displaying any type of emotion from beneath their lifeless respirators. They grabbed their designated ropes and hurried down, joining their team who were already engaged in the battle below.

Baron scanned the area, observing the rushed police barricades that had been placed up on either end of the street to try and slow the advancement of the infected. From the look of things, all had not gone as planned. The MH-60 dropped the ropes and ascended into the air, disappearing from line of sight shortly after. Strangely enough there was still power in this small section of the city as indicated by the street lamps that shone down from overhead. Perfect, they wouldn't need to activate their night vision and thus still maintain a clear readout on their Heads Up Display as opposed to the green hue caused from the NV. Baron completed the preset perimeter they had conceived in the briefing before the mission as he switched his HK G36C to single-shot, took a knee, and began selecting his shots at any undead who broke through the barricades. Though lifeless and without any higher level thinking, the creatures seemed to be hesitant to close in for the kill on the group of twenty or so uniformed police officers. Did they possess enough intelligence to know about fire superiority? It was doubtful, but for some reason they held back. They had the numbers to overwhelm both the U.S.S. and R.P.D. but weren't capitalizing on that advantage. Finally, some began stepping forward, knocking down a wooden barricade held in place by sandbags at the bottom. Baron peered through his scope towards the optic ruby reticule that was sighted in between and slightly above the nearest creature's eyes. He depressed the trigger twice, sending two 5.56x45mm NATO Full Metal Jacket tracer rounds right through the cranium of the undead, dropping it in a lifeless slump to the ground.

It must have been the trigger to set off the undead as they all began storming the area from both sides. The U.S.S. unit opened fire in a synchronized motion, as if they could read each other's mind. As the rapid moving horde of undead began closing in they slowly began backing up towards a group of squad cruisers set up in a triangular pattern as to provide some cover to the remaining police officers. Trying as they would, the rotting corpses were no match for the U.S.S. soldiers who were some of the best shooters in the world. Both Frost & Baron were "President's 100" meaning they were among the top one hundred marksman in the United States and as far as they were concerned, they were numbers one and two. Each soldier fired their designated weapons, the likes of which weren't even universally on the market at the time. Most of the weapons the elite unit possessed were still in the developmental stages in the mainstream, but thanks to the influence Umbrella had the company was able to purchase and modify all the weapons to their likings, ensuring fire superiority in any conflict the unit might engage in. This was proving to be true as the mass of infected began rapidly decreasing with each precision shot. Finding themselves backed against the squad cars, six of the soldiers fell back within the ranks of the officers while the two heavy gunners climbed atop the hoods of the squad cars and unleashed a hellfire of powerful rounds that leveled anything that had the courage to get too close.

When the smoke had settled all of the attackers had been disposed of. The police officers stood there in shock and relieved that they had been spared on this night of terror. One of the officers walked over to Baron and extended his hand in gratitude.

"Thank you guys so much, I thought we were dead for sure."

Baron looked from the man's hand and back up to his face. His eyes indicated he was an older man, no doubt a textbook officer, but they also let the U.S.S. Commander know he was both afraid and inquisitive. Without acknowledging the policeman's gratitude on behalf of the trained soldiers, Commander Baron responded in a commanding, if somewhat sinister tone.

"And what makes you think you're not going to die?

The officer looked puzzled as he lowered his hand. With lightning quick reflex, Baron reached down to his right thigh and unholstered his Colt M1911 Customized Government Edition sidearm, raised it eye level with the officer and fired, sending .45 ACP Jacketed Hollow Point round through his right eye and out the back of his head. The officer's body dropped to the pavement and before any of his comrades could react, they found themselves with the same fate as their companion, gunned down by the other seven killers. No emotion came from any team member as they began walking away from their massacre, avoiding the carcasses of the formerly living dead while they continued to their objective.

"I expect this anytime we come across law enforcement or civilians. We will take no prisoners." Baron sharply addressed his subordinates. He turned to Frost, about to speak, when the executive officer pushed him down, lifted up his powerful M82A1 sniper rifle, and fired a power .50AE caliber round through a creature that seemed to be airborne. The shot rang out through the night; it was almost deafening to anyone in the area and was surely heard by anything either living or dead that happened to be within a mile radius of the group. Baron stood up and turned around to see what Frost had just killed. It was a skinless crimson creature with serrated claws instead of fingers, identified by local as a "Licker" but to the trained agents it was just another experiment that had failed. Baron turned back to his friend and nodded.

"Guess I owe you one, man."

The only acknowledgement that came from Frost was a simple nod. There was no sense in wasting time talking when they had a mission to carry out. So the group moved on, keeping in two tight columns as they swept the streets from each side.


	6. Never A Moment's Rest

Raelynn had grabbed a piece of crate wood before she had stepped into the stairwell; she slid the tough wood into the door handle and gave it a shake. "Don't need any surprises," she muttered to herself. Raelynn held her helmet to her side and her gun was gripped in-between leather bound fingers; Rae leaned over the stair railing and looked down. The spiral stairs gave off an eerie red glow from the emergency lights, there wasn't any movement or sound down the three flights of stairs but she would still be precautious. With silent footsteps, Raelynn stepped down the first flight of stairs - her eye caught the sight of a baby rattle; the thought of a mother with an infant in her arms running from the horrors that Umbrella had created had a flash of anger sweep through her. The sound of a forlorn sigh startled her from her thoughts; it was from a distance so it had to be from the first floor. Raelynn glanced down at the rattle once more before picking it up at the hollow end so it didn't make any noise. She held out her arm with the rattled over the edge of the stairs and dropped the rattle, after hitting the railing of the first flight of stairs the sound of a gun exploded through the stair well.

"Fuck!"

At first Raelynn thought she herself had sworn, but the voice had come from the flight below her at ground level. A man's voice, a terrified voice, with fear and frustration all at once. "Just fucking leave me along," he cried out in a dull whisper. He thought she was one of them, he couldn't see her obviously. Raelynn didn't make a sound, nor did she go down the next flight of stairs, he would shout her for sure. He was trigger happy and perhaps better off not living much longer. She waiting, she could feel the tension coming from the man, she could almost smell the sweat pouring down his back. Raelynn, silent once again walked down the stairs and placed her helmet on the floor. She listened to him mutter quietly under his breath.

"Don't come down, don't come down. I don't want to die, I don't want to die. Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck…" his chanting continuing until she heard the sound of his clothing rustle, he stood up from his sitting position. She could see the corner of his right shoulder now "Fuck it!" he talked in what appeared a normal voice. "I am going to get you." the sound of teeth grinding as he moved towards the railing. Raelynn quickly lunged at the man and grabbed the back of his head through the railing and hit his forehead on the metal. The man's instant look of shock registered five seconds after he saw her and by then it was too late. The man looked at her dazed his gun dropped to the ground.

"Wh… wh… who a-are you?" he asked with a resounding stutter.

Raelynn tilted her head to the side for a moment before smiling "Your guardian angel ." she stated before raising the Beretta to the man's forehead and before he could stammer out a reply she let go of his hair and shot him in the middle of his forehead. A bit of blood splattered on her jacket and the body dropped to the ground. Raelynn picked up her helmet again and jogged down the remaining flight of stairs, she walked towards the door to the main entrance. She took one more glance behind her, to the man she just shot and the shattered rattle; she shook her head in disgust "What a waste."

Raelynn leaned on the door, through the small window she could see them - she counted each one she could see and multiplied it by three. It was the rule when your view was restricted, never underestimate the situation. After several minutes of strategic thinking, Rae placed her helmet on the ground once more - she would have to come back for it, if at all. With a Beretta in each hand, Raelynn pushed open the door to the front entrance of the hotel. Two of the four undead she had seen from her view within the stairwell saw fresh meat; their undead voices muttering indescribable, animal sounds.

A gleam of anticipation gleamed within those hard emerald eyes; a smile curved deep red lips as she pulled both triggers on her gun. The bullets hit their targets with a loud thwack, as if it was hitting a piece of stale wood. Both of the undead bodies jerked with the force of the bullet, both of them fell to the ground with the last gasp of air from their lungs. Raelynn walked with determination towards her next two targets, both of the undead watched her with an insatiable hunger. They walked stiff-legged towards her; her next two shots rang out in the lobby. The next second the two bodies collapsed onto the ground, her next target was a staggering body with half it's head collapsed into itself, it's large mouth gaped open in a scream that would last forever. Raelynn pulled the trigger once more hitting the undead in the large mouth and shattering the creature's jaw, the headless body moved towards her only a foot more before it's true death fazed the rest of the body.

The sound of nails clicking on the ground behind her and a feral growl caught her attention, she looked behind her shoulder before turning on her heel to face a creature unlike anything she had seen before. It's mouth dripped with saliva and fangs, it's body looked as if someone had skinned a frog the size of a large dog and it's head looked as if the creature should be blind. Instead its sightless face stared right at her, it's long tongue flickered and seemed to extend much longer then physical capability. Raelynn stood frozen for only thirty seconds, but long enough for the creature to understand her gaze. Green orbs stared at the creature while out of the corner of her eye she could see a large broom closet, the creature took a measured step towards her and she ran for it. Before she could make it even half way towards the closet she heard the creature behind her. It took her only seconds to survey her surroundings; she was on the opposite side of the front desk. In front of her stood the bench she had jumped over, kicking the long wooden bench she hit the creature in the head. Raelynn pointed both Berettas at the creature and started to shoot, hitting the creature as to where it's eyes should have been she heard a painful squeal that could only have come from the creature she was shooting.

Raelynn turned again and ran for the broom closet, the screams of the creature echoed in the lobby as it collapsed on the ground. Rae closed the door except for an inch so she could watch, the creature's body heaved as it tried to catch it's breath; blood seeping from where it's hidden eyes had been. The creature stopped all noise and cocked it's head, listening. Raelynn put her Berettas back in her holster, her mind frantically searched for something - anything to kill the creature. That was when she spotted the long, thick rubber gloves; Rae picked one up and slipped it onto her hand. She took out one of her severe looking knives, held her breath and opened the door to slip out. With silent steps she walked over to the creature, it listened for any sign of movement. Standing in front of the creature, Raelynn saw it's tongue curl as if searching for something. Rae pulled a grenade from her belt, the small sound of a metal clip clinked against metal and the creatures tongue wrapped around her boot. Without thinking, Raelynn slashed the bristled tongue; she stepped on the creature's bottom jaw and pulled the pin from the grenade. Raelynn held the creature's top jaw open with the thick rubber glove and shoved the grenade down the creature's throat. Rae side stepped as the creature swung out at her with one of it's arm and she ran for the broom closet again. Before the creature could take another step towards Raelynn, it's insides exploded - splattering blood and flesh over the lobby. The door to the broom closet slammed shut by the force of the grenade just as Raelynn had tossed herself inside. 

Raelynn took off the long glove and sighed heavily, she sat with her knees in front of her, her elbows rested on her knees. She looked at her saliva covered jacket arm and leather glove "Worse then a goddamn dog." she stood up and looked around the closet to find paper towel, after wiping the saliva from her jacket and glove she opened the door to look at the mess she had made. Rae picked up the knife she had tossed to the side and wiped off the creature's rotting insides before sheathing it.

"Time to leave this nightmare." she muttered to herself and walked towards the front doors.

- - - - - - - - - - -

Peering from a darkened window of the hotel manager's office, Sean watched what had happened; he had followed her to Raccoon City. His sister, she had done well for herself and it was time to bring her back in to the family fold. "'Ello lil sister," he whispered. Despite the biological weapons walking around the city, he had managed to keep up with his sister, debating the best time to confront her. It had been eleven years since they had seen one another with their brother Riley; she had been fourteen then and unforgiving.

Now she was twenty-five and hopefully would understand that their parents had been monsters and for a reason more dark then they could all ever conceive.


	7. Rangers Lead The Way

While the city seemed to tear itself apart in a storm of violence and rage, two of the United States Army's top units had been dispatched to contain what the government still though to be just a case of civil unrest. The soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division were the first to respond seeing as they were only a stone's throw away at Fort Carson, just outside Colorado Springs. They were ordered to simply set up a perimeter and quarantine the area and that's exactly what they did. The forces of the 10th Mountain stretched across the somewhat mountainous terrain around Raccoon City, establishing check points throughout the surrounding Arklay Forest to maintain constant contact with the main HQ set up less than a mile over Raven's Gate Bridge on the outskirts of the city. An hour later a C-130 carrying the 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment arrived at the airbase at Fort Carson where MH-60 Black Hawks picked them up and rendezvoused at the outpost just outside of Raccoon. Two hundred of the active three hundred soldiers from the 3rd Battalion had been helo'd in broken down on the battlefield as a Company. Their commanding officer was a Captain named Eric Hall who had been with this very same Battalion during Operation: Restore Hope in Somalia in 1993.

Captain Hall entered into the command tent that was set up to serve as the joint base of operations for the two units called upon to participate in the mission. After removing his Kevlar helmet, he was greeted by a formal nod from the CO of the 10th Mountain, Major General Steve Godwin who was currently issuing orders to his subordinates who in turn relayed them onto the roughly seven thousand soldiers currently deployed at Raccoon City.

"Sir?" The general turned to Captain Hall. "Any new developments?"

The general replied with disgust, "Negative, captain. The Pentagon hasn't authorized entry for us so we don't know what the hell's going on. Power's out all over the city and we got helos reporting fires are starting and quickly funneling out of control."

Captain Hall thought it strange how the local fire department had failed to keep the blazes under control. Usually they were commended for their efficiency when such instances as forest fires were reported but the total lack of responsiveness puzzled the veteran soldier.

"Well, sir, I received orders from The Pentagon... General Hawthorne himself, that my boys are to insert at Fort Arklay and relieve the National Guard & Reserve units stationed there. Any word from them?"

"No, I'm afraid not. We lost radio contact half an hour ago. We've been trying to raise them but it hasn't worked. The last transmissions were muffled and the gunfire made it even harder to hear."

"I'll let my men know the situation. With your authorization we'll proceed with our mission."

Major General Godwin nodded to indicate he understood Captain Hall. He then called the captain over to view the topographical map of Raccoon City.

"We've got the place surrounded, nothing is getting in or out. Fort Arklay is on the northeastern edge of town, across the Marble River and the hospital. Shouldn't take more than five minutes to get there. When you arrive I want an immediate sit-rep, understood, Captain?"

"Roger that sir."

Upon receiving his limited orders, Captain Hall exited the command tent and reaffixed his helmet over his head, securing it by a chinstrap. He returned to the staging area where his restless men gathered around and made small talk to pass the time.

"Troop, fall in!" Came the command from the senior NCO First Sergeant James Raven who acted as the company's executive officer. When the order was made, the two hundred Rangers instantly fell into formation and stood at a position of attention. Having made the order, 1SG Raven stood to the captain's left and stood at attention as well.

"All right men. You all have been briefed upon the situation and so I'll cut to the point. Our first objective is to rendezvous with the 3rd National Guard and 48th Reserve elements at Fort Arklay. Reports indicate that radio contact with the fort was lost at 1910 this evening. We will move by air to the fort and relieve those men. Hooah?"

A simultaneous "Hooah" echoed throughout the area as the highly skilled Rangers acknowledged their orders.

"Fall out."

Immediately the company was broken down even further into two platoons meaning forty-four soldiers divided equally into twenty-twenty to for each platoon. Three MH-60s were used to transport them along with one AH-6 "Little Bird" that seated two battalion snipers to provide aerial cover. Twenty minutes later the five helicopters ascended into the air and headed for Arklay. While traversing the city, soldiers that were seated next to the open door caught glimpses of the supposed rioters. One keen soldier, Sergeant Brett Robert Kennedy noticed that their movements were slow and uncoordinated. Had the others also observed this? Instead of bringing it to their attention and passing it off as nothing, Sgt Kennedy closed his eyes and tried to relax.

Five minutes had passed since the platoons left the safety of the staging area and now it was go time. The helos began their descent one hundred meters from Fort Arklay. Even with the power supply cut the pilots had no problems maneuvering in the dark thanks to the NV equipped birds. After circling twice above the army base, the pilots found an open area and prepped for their landing. Once the helo touched the ground the Rangers unloaded and scattered out away from the dangerous main rotors of their transports. When all forty-four men had been unloaded, the pilots quickly lifted off and headed back to their base, leaving only the one Little Bird to provide cover.

Captain Hall glanced around without the aid of night vision. No sounds were audible and certainly no movement was seen. His soldiers kept quiet as did he while they proceeded away from the open grounds and towards the mess hall. Captain Hall signaled for one of his men to open the door while the rest covered. Sgt Kennedy wrapped his gloved hand around the silver handle and turned it slowly before pushing it inward. The Rangers filed in behind him and moved to the corners of the mess hall. Closer observation showed that deceased bodies littered the floor. Some of the windows had been shot out and thus the rays of the moon shone in and brought faint light to the fallen. Captain Hall walked slowly through the mess hall making sure not to accidentally step on any of the numerous bodies that were scattered about. The commanding officer took notice of the bullet holes in the wall, M4 rifles laying about, empty clips, full clips, casings of the 5.56mm rounds that had been fired... and the massive amount of blood. He knelt down beside one of the bodies and turned it over, revealing the form of a young woman, probably in her early twenties though he couldn't be too sure since her face and half of her head had been ripped apart looking as a wild animal had feasted upon her. The blood seemed to be stagnant and her cranial matter was in a scattered trail across the once clean and sparkling marble floor. He touched his gloved finger to the puddle of crimson liquid and closer to his face for examination.

"Jesus, what the fuck happened here?" He asked himself in a quiet tone.

None of the Rangers seemed to take notice that one of the bodies was slowly starting to stir. Its limbs were twitching and the creature's eyes opened once more, revealing a pale blue iris. Quietly the body defied all logic and lifted itself up enough to crawl towards the nearest living form.

"AAAGH!" came the scream that pierced that silence of the night. Captain Hall and the others immediately turned their attention to the northwest section of the mess hall to decipher what on earth was happening. Hall rushed across the hall and to a corporal who had collapsed to the ground. He was kicking at the dead body. Why the hell? To his horror, the captain watched as the reanimated corpse ripped into the flesh of his young corporal right below the knee. It tore a piece of muscle from the kid's calf and held it between its teeth, gnawing on it as if it were a starved Nigerian child. A pool of blood was forming where the young soldier fell. He had already gone into a state of shock, which prompted action from the platoon's medic. The captain just stood there in amazement as the creature swallowed the muscle tissue it had just collected then seemed to come back for more.

"Son of a bitch, what the hell is going on? Medic, I think this guy has rabies or something." Hall certainly was smarter than his comment would lead one to believe. But the situation he was faced with and not having knowledge of the situation within the nightmare that had become Raccoon, anyone could have so easily made such an outrageous claim.

The second medic attached to the platoon carefully stepped by his commanding officer and cocked his head to the right as he stared down at the man who replied with a faint groan.

"I've never seen a case of rabies like that. Looks like Ebola to me," observed the second team medic. Captain Hall shot an aberrant stare over to his comrade that could have stopped a licker dead in it's tracks.

"The fuck you just say, doc?"

"The Ebola, these systems are reminiscent of the virus."

"Thought that shit was limited to Africa."

"It's supposed to be. Almost as if it's in seclusion but this is formidable evidence. I want to call it back to base. We might have an epidemic here."

"Alright, get on it."

Hall walked away from the medic and shook his head. "Ebola. What the fuck?" the thought to himself as he rejoined the fallen corporal who by now had been treated for shock and was slipping in and out of consciousness. One of the soldiers had been ordered to help the diseased man to his feet but refused to comply with his order. Under normal circumstances that would be called insubordination but it was obvious these weren't your normal circumstances. Captain Hall weighed his options on what to do with the man. Should they leave him here to possibly die? Take him with them and risk infection of the ebola? Decisions, decisions. About that time a single shot from an M4 Carbine, 5.56mm NATO Full Metal Jacket pierced through the diseased man's skull and exited through the back of his head, spraying a red mist over the boots of the captain, causing him to look down and see the thing release its grip from the captain's leg.

"You're welcome, sir." Sergeant Brett Kennedy said sharply to his commanding officer.

Captain Hall looked from the deceased man, to Kennedy, and back to the deceased man then kicked its hand away.

"This shit just keeps getting weirder." The Captain pointed out the obvious to the younger brother of U.S.S. commander, Owen "The Baron" Kennedy. "I'm going to radio back to base. Check for any survivors," ordered the captain.

"Hotel 1-1 this is Echo 1-1, over?"

"Echo 1-1, this is Hotel 1-1, what you got for us?"

"Well sir... base seems dead. We're in the mess hall and there are numerous casualties, at least thirty. Looks like a battle took place. Bullet casings, holes in the wall, the works."

"Roger that, check for survivors and we'll send in an evac."

"There's one other thing..."

"What's that?"

"There was an incident, Corporal Smith was attacked by one of the survivors. Appeared to be rapid, one of the medics said it looked like ebola."

"That's not possible, there haven't been any ebola outbreaks in years."

"That's what I thought too, sir but the evidence is conclusive."

"Alright I want you to..."

The general was abruptly cut off by the sound of semi-automatic firing on the other side. Back at the mess hall it seemed that all those presumed deceased were somehow standing up and trying to attack the soldiers. A few Rangers had been bitten by those crazy bastards and weren't about to risk any more casualties. The mess hall lit up from the flashes produced by the muzzles on all of the M4A1 Carbine rifles, giving a better perspective as to what the disease carrying civilians looked like. They began dropping as rapidly as they rose up and while firing his rifle right through their faces, Sergeant Kennedy noticed how awkward they looked, even for victims of the ebola virus. One infected he had busted open seemed to be missing a large chunk of its abdomen; flesh was rotting from its bones and its eyes looked glazed over. They didn't seem to feel any pain unless you fired at their head. Surely even a deathly ill victim of the killer virus would still feel the pain of a full metal jacket slug through the chest.

When the fire had settled down and the previously thought deceased bodies were finally confirmed to be dead, the Rangers regrouped and took a casualty count. The medics were busy as at least four more soldiers had been attacked and bitten by the infected. Having the policy of leaving no man behind, they helped their comrades up and exited the mess hall as more of the fallen victims seemed to have a new spark of life return to them.

"Get that fucking door locked!" The Captain ordered as a private rushed to the door and pressed his body weight against it. On the opposite side at least a dozen of the infected were trying to push him backwards, trying to escape from the "kitchen of death." A few more Rangers helped their young brother to reinforce the double doors and finally get them locked. A sigh of relief came over the platoon as they gathered around their captain like a flock of sheep to a shepherd.

"Ok, there's some crazy shit going on here but just keep your calm and we're all going to get through this. A medivac is on its way and should be here soon. I want six volunteers to head to Bravo's position. The rest of us will wait here to the helo arrives. I have any volunteers?"

Most of the men would have been hesitant, but not Sergeant Brett Kennedy. He immediately stepped forward and volunteered for the task, followed quickly by five more men who knew and trusted Kennedy.

"Now that's what I like to see. You guys report when you've met up with Bravo, Hooah?"

Sergeant Kennedy replied, "Hooah sir... Rangers Lead The Way."

"All the way, son."

After a quick salute from Sergeant Kennedy to Captain Hall, he and his squad began jogging off towards the area Bravo had been assigned. Deep inside, Brett felt something was horribly wrong... Bravo hadn't checked in since they arrived at Fort Arklay over forty minutes ago and such an extended amount of radio silence could never be a good thing. He only hoped his fears would prove to be false, but with what he had just encountered in the mess hall, Sergeant Kennedy was prepared for the worst.


End file.
